By Mia Tahara-Stubbs, CNBC
Greece will remain in the euro zone as long as Athens is willing to compromise, the former president of the European Commission told CNBC, noting this is what most Greeks desire.
“I believe we should be flexible with Greece, but Greece has to respect the need to pursue with reforms, to be competitive, and if that’s the case, I have no doubt that all the other governments in Europe want to support Greece,” Jose Manuel Barroso told CNBC at the 18th annual Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong.
“The government also should accept and respect the Greek people who elected them – and a huge majority of them want to remain in the euro area,” he said.
Greece’s place in the euro zone has been hanging in the balance since the anti-austerity Syriza Party won elections earlier this year.
Athens’ newly elected government has sought to renegotiate the austerity measures imposed on the country as part of its 240 billion euro bailout package. Recent talks over Greece’s debt and European Union imposed fiscal austerity have become increasingly tortured.
Following a euro zone finance ministers’ meeting about Greece in Brussels on March 9, an exasperated Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem even told Athens to “stop wasting time.”
After weeks of talks, however, Athens did manage to clinch last Friday a four-month extension of its rescue program from the group of lenders led by the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Sniping between Germany and Greece has marred talks over the past weeks, but some bridge building appears to be on the cards. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin later on Monday.
And, despite polls suggesting the majority of Germans are willing to let Greece leave the euro, Barroso said the EU itself is committed to keeping Athens in the euro zone.
“I am sure that today there is sufficient commitment to solve the issue of Greece,” said Barroso.
